


Old friends

by earthbound_misfit



Category: Air Gear
Genre: Christmas, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Old Friends, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:08:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24000358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earthbound_misfit/pseuds/earthbound_misfit
Summary: Spitfire is making his way through the town by night, when he comes across an old friend.
Relationships: Spitfire & Falko
Kudos: 1





	Old friends

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Alte Freunde](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/615361) by -Spitfire-. 



A cold wind was blowing down the streets when a middle-aged man passed by the decorated shop windows on his ATs, stopping at every other window to take a closer look.

The streets were covered with ice but he didn't care. Even though he definitely prefered being outside in spring. When it wasn't so damn cold and icey. But winter did have something good to offer, too:

„Decoration!“

Even though he was wearing a thick scarf, the cold seemed to slowly make its way through the fabric. Or maybe it was due to the fingerless gloves he wore.

But beauty knows no pain, right.

„Oh, how wonderful!“, his voice cut through the silence. The streets were empty, almost lifeless, not a soul to be seen let alone heard. He was alone. 

It was the middle of the night, but Spitfire was always reckoning to meet other people. Which was the reason why he was always whispering to himself. He could have just said nothing at all, but that wasn't really his strength. 

And on the off-chance that someone was there anyway, whispering couldn't be wrong.

—- 

He stopped at a particulary well-decorated window. It belonged to a fashion shop with a few reindeers scattered around the three mannequins and a huge santa claus in the middle. For a moment, Spit stopped to take his time looking closely at everything.  
It was pleasant to be outside this late.

In the daytime the young hairdresser was often stopped and spoken to, seldomely giving him the peace to look at shop windows.

Being the town's most well-known hairdresser was a hard burden, indeed.

After a few minutes of examining the window, Spit went on in his quest of wandering around. For his next stop, he wanted to go see the huge shopping mall in Avenue Ribanaire.

Silently, almost as if doing what he was planning to do was illegal, Spitfire went on, hoping to maybe even warm up a little.

The freezing Flame King, how ironic.

It took him barely ten minutes to reach the shopping centre. Already from afar, he had been able to make out the silhouette of the gigantic christmas tree put up at the large square in front of the mall.

"Wow.." 

The fir tree was illuminated and draped with countless baubles and tinsel strips, the roof of the building was now inhabited by Santa and his reindeer friends and fairy lights were gleaming on all of the outside walls of the center.

In the dark, the building was beaming so brightly that Spit just had to ask himself, how insanely high the expenses for this decoration had to be. But what did it matter, if something so beautiful was the outcome of it.

A smile tenderly curled the man's lips, before he went on to find a spot to sit where he placed his backback in front of him, taking out a bottle filled with hot tea and a few biscuits he had packed.

„You will warm me up“, the drink was directly addressed before he took a sip.

He sat like this for several minutes, enjoying the tranquility. 

—- 

It took a while for Spitfire to notice that he wasn't alone anymore.

Next to the christmas tree was a man, wearing a hat and surrounded by – apparently – a bunch of falling christmass balls.

Confused, Spit opened and closed his eyes a few times. Could that be Falko? Hats always reminded him of his old friend.

Still eyeing the figure of the man, Spit noticed him holding one of the broken baubles in his hand.

What was he up to?

And why was bauble-Falko (that what he was calling him now) just standing there, still and motionless?

Another few seconds went by, then Spit grabbed his backpack and decided to pay a visit to the other one. Food and drink were quickly stored away and he was already moving in the direction of the tree.

Apparently, the person had actually torn down more than a few of the baubles. Halfway there, Spit announced himself with a „Hey!“, as not to frighten the other, and then added: „What happened to you? Do you need help?“ 

With that, he stopped closely next to the other.

The other person – partly startled, partly paralysed – just stared at the redhead and let go of even the last piece of bauble. Spit heard – and felt – it falling, the noise louder than anything else at that moment. This was not anyone standing in front of him. This was really Falko.

When had he seen him last? It had to have been after the fight...

Bauble-Falko turned into Falko-Falko.

„Oh.. Hey“, he heard him murmur and Spit only nodded. An uncomfortable silence spread between the two of them and Spit tried to casually lean against the tree. Which didn't really work, he just fell right through the branches, leading to several more baubles toppling off the tree.

A shout and a fit of laughter coming from Falko dragged Spit back to reality.

„Darn, the poor tree!“, Spit called out, before taking Falko's hand reaching out to him, who pulled him up again.

„The tree doesn't seem to like the two of us all that much, huh?“ 

Spit had to laugh as well.

„Apparently not..“ 

The silence was back, but it didn't seem as uncomfortable anymore. Then, Falko began to speak.

„So... You're out this late too, hm.“

Spit nodded and shook his backpack. „I've got tea and cookies.“

Falko mirrored Spits nodding, and he couldn't really make out if the other had gotten the subtle hint.

„I'm sharing.“

Falko flinched, and awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

„You don't have to, I can go, I just wanted to... I don't know what I wanted.“

Spit felt like he couldn't watch all of this anymore and just pulled the other into a tight embrace. If talking was so difficult, hugging could only make things better.

„I'm sorry“, Spit muttered and tried patiently waiting for Falko to hug him back.

„Me too“, was the answer, before two arms were put around him.

The hug didn't last all that long, but it felt so familiar. Almost as if they had never lost contact at all.

Spits face showed an honest smile, then he pointed over at the tree.

„How about we... get out of here and treat ourselves to a little midnight snack?“

Falko nodded, but then pointed at his feet.

„Only that I have to walk..“

Spitfire was pulled back into reality. The other wasn't wearing ATs, a fact that stung more than he would have expected.

„.. Sure, we'll just walk.“

Maybe over tea and cookies, they could talk a bit about everything, finally letting the past rest.

„We could also... just grab a coffee“, Falko suggested, pointing to a coffee shop at the end of the street, a pale light from inside still illuminating the window.

Nobody would bother them in there, it was close by and comfortably warm.

Spit pondered for a moment, before shrugging.

„That's up to you. We could also go to my place – but I think we'd have to take the tram.“

Falko muttered something that Spit didn't quite catch, but since the other was already headed in the direction of the coffee shop, that seemed to be the answer.

„Okay then“, he murmured to himself and tried to make the best out of everything. Maybe the tree had been a sign.

A sign that two old friends would find each other again.

And if not... well, if not, then they could still just have a nice evening together.

Spit would be thankful for that as well.


End file.
